ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

Brown has a large and diverse Department of Physics with expertise in astrophysics, condensed matter, and particle physics. In addition to these traditional disciplines, a group of faculty conduct research in theoretical neuroscience. The major goal of this research is to elucidate the biological mechanisms that underlie learning and memory. Using basic principles of brain organization, neural network models are constructed that can learn and reproduce such higher-level cognitive acts as abstraction, computation and language acquisition. Mathematical studies investigate the dependence of learning on synaptic modification and aim to elucidate the principles that govern synapse formation, modification, and learning.

DEPARTMENT FACULTY

• Leon Cooper
• Charles Elbaum
• Nathan Intrator
• Predrag (Pedja) Neskovic
• Arto Nurmikko
• Harel Shouval
• Jimmy Xu